The Patient Art of Rock Balancing & the Accidental Artist Who Found Pride and Purpose in Stone Cairns

Manuel Cisneros is an artist working and living on the beach in Ventura, California, who began building stone sculptures on the beach while homeless:

Film by Ross Harris. Music by MNDSGN courtesy of Stones Throw Records.

“Everything Happen for a Reason” is a moving and thought-provoking film about Manuel Cisneros, a man who, during a period of homelessness last year, began stacking stones into beautiful sculptures on Pierpont Beach in Ventura, California. In the film, Cisneros talks to filmmaker Ross Harris about his work and what brought him to the beach.

Photo by T Christian Gapen.

As it turns out, Cisneros, a native of Mexico, was in the midst of a very difficult period in his life last year. He was homeless, looking for work, and sleeping on Pierpont Beach. He began stacking stones on the beach as a way to pass the time, but found the practice so comforting that he soon began spending entire days on the endeavor. His beautiful cairns and rock towers are now a local attraction. And as of the writing of a December 2014 article in the Ventura County Reporter, Cisneros has found a backyard to camp in through friends he met at the beach.